Community Profile
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Community Profile City of Schenectady Comprehensive Plan 2020 Reinventing the City of Invention Brian U. Stratton Mayor Community Profile Table of Contents Demographic Characteristics ............................................................................................................ 5 Economic Profile ..........................................................................................................................13 Real Estate and Tax Base Analysis .....................................................................................................31 Housing ......................................................................................................................................43 Infrastructure and Transportation.....................................................................................................59 Natural Resources .........................................................................................................................72 Community Character & Historic Preservation......................................................................................76 Recreation ..................................................................................................................................83 Government, Public Safety and Community Institutions..........................................................................90 List of Tables and Figures Tables Table 1: Summary Demographic Table, City of Schenectady ....................................................................... 5 Table 2: Population and Median Income Change, Schenectady County Municipalities .......................................... 6 Table 3: Household Change, City of Schenectady ..................................................................................... 8 Table 4: Race & Hispanic Origin .......................................................................................................... 9 Table 5: Age Distribution, 1990 – 2000, City of Schenectady ....................................................................... 10 Table 6: Educational Attainment Levels, Persons 25+............................................................................... 11 Table 7: Largest Employers in Schenectady County (2006) ......................................................................... 14 Table 8: Household Income and Poverty Rate Comparison.......................................................................... 23 Table 9: Employment by Occupation, City of Schenectady ......................................................................... 24 Table 10: Resident Employment by Industry, 2000 ................................................................................... 24 Table 11: Commuting Patterns (1997) .................................................................................................. 25 Table 12: Industry Mix, City of Schenectady (2002) .................................................................................. 26 Table 13: Retail Trade, City of Schenectady (2002).................................................................................. 28 Table 14: Retail Trade Trends (1992-2002) ............................................................................................ 29 Table 15: Land Use by Property Class................................................................................................... 32 Table 16: Tax Base by Property Class................................................................................................... 33 Table 17: Tax Exemptions by Property Class .......................................................................................... 34 1 Community Profile Table 18: Revenue Distribution by Property Class .................................................................................... 35 Table 19: Taxable Value by Neighborhood ............................................................................................. 36 Table 20: Population of Comparable Cities ............................................................................................ 37 Table 21: Taxable Value of Real Property of Comparable Cities ................................................................. 38 Table 22: Taxes of Comparable Cities ................................................................................................. 39 Table 23: Budget Expenditures of Comparable Cities ................................................................................ 40 Table 24: Per Capita Expenditures of Comparable Cities............................................................................ 41 Table 25: General Housing Characteristics............................................................................................ 43 Table 26: Maximum Homeownership, City of Schenectady.......................................................................... 44 Table 27: For-Sale Housing Trends – City of Schenectady .......................................................................... 48 Table 28: For-Sale Housing Trends – Schenectady County and Capital District Region ........................................ 49 Table 29: Subsidized Housing Inventory ............................................................................................... 51 Table 30: Major Roads in the City of Schenectady.................................................................................... 62 Table 31: CDTA Performance Data ...................................................................................................... 64 Table 32: City-Owned Recreational Facilities – Passive Parks...................................................................... 83 Table 33: City-Owned Recreational Facilities – Active Parks....................................................................... 84 Table 34: Typical Acreage Standards for Public Recreation/Open Space System – City of Schenectady .................... 86 Table 35: Schenectady Crime Statistics ............................................................................................... 91 Table 36: Index Crimes Reported: 2000-2004, City of Schenectady Police Department ....................................... 91 Table 37: Schenectady School District Need by School .............................................................................. 94 Figures Figure 1: Schenectady Population Ranking 7 Figure 2: Schenectady Empire Zone Map 18 Figure 3: Schenectady Renewal Community Map 19 Figure 4: Map of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail in the City of Schenectady 67 2 Community Profile Overview: Regional Context and Development History This community profile is being prepared as part of the City of Schenectady’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan. The profile provides a snapshot of Schenectady today. It describes a range of conditions, obstacles and trends impacting the City and the rich array of opportunities available to Schenectady in the future. Schenectady’s proud history creates the framework for future growth and development. “The City that lights and hauls the world” was synonymous with economic expansion for decades. Fueled by the growth of the middle class, the city’s neighborhoods, including the GE Realty Plot, Hamilton Hill and others enjoyed high rates of homeownership and vibrant commercial corridors. The community was, and still is, enhanced by the presence of Union College, the Stockade District and other historic and heritage resources unparalleled in the region. Essentially a two-company town for most of its history, Schenectady is distinctly different from its neighbors in the Capital Region. All are industrial cities, but while industry was booming at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers well before the Civil War, Schenectady did not achieve such a standing until the 1880s. The remarkable expansion of the General Electric Company between 1890 and 1920 conferred a unique, twentieth century quality on the physical character of the City, virtually bereft of the dense, attached rows that characterize streetscapes in Albany and Troy. GE brought change to Schenectady at a magnitude few cities ever experience. Known as “the City that lights and hauls the world”, in 1914, more people worked at GE than had lived in the entire city before the company was created. GE’s main plant developed into a mile-square city-within-a-city, and extraordinary demand spurred rapid housing development in adjacent neighborhoods. Although downtown State Street was the “preferred address” for many local businesses, from the elite classicism of Proctor’s Arcade to the streamlined economy of Woolworth’s, more personalized services, such as groceries, bakeries, butcher shops, taverns, and tailor’s shops, could be found on the commercial strips in Schenectady’s proliferating neighborhoods. For decades, GE and ALCO were Schenectady’s two major employers. Through the world wars, the City’s factories were used in the production of heavy military equipment and trains for transport. Following World War II, however, the economic character of the City underwent rapid change. As railroading declined in the U.S., so did the prospects of ALCO, which ceased operations in 1970. General Electric’s gradual decline in Schenectady in the later decades of the 20th century confronted the community with tougher challenges than most cities ever have to face. The transition from a company town, to a city with a diversified economy, strong and productive tax base and vibrant downtown has been an